The Loeb-Leopold case - The Clarence Darrow Collection

The Loeb-Leopold Case
did not try. Their souls were stripped bare, so they
say, but because they did not show them, that was
their conclusion, and they worded it carefully.
Dr. Patrick was the first one. He said, " There
was no evidence of mental disease." He meant of
course that he saw none; that none had been shown
him.
Now, what was that examination? I won't go
into a discussion as to whether my friend Judge
Crowe feared the boys had a mental disease — and
I want to say now lest I forget it, that I never saw
a case of this importance so well prepared; and
where the work was so expeditiously done as was
done by Judge Crowe in this case.
It may be that he feared that the lawyers who
might be thereafter retained would come into the
court room with the only defense that he thought
was possible, and that he was going to forestall
them. Maybe he thought that there was no pos-
sibility of their being mentally diseased. Maybe he
was in good faith on that, and thought all that was
necessary to determine this case was to bring in
some good alienists and say: "Look them over,
doctors. Are you through now? Did you look?
Wait, I will have them tell the story about the mur-
der, tell it in all the details. Now, you take notes,
Leopold, and when he gets through you correct him
on that."
The story goes along and then: "What do you
say?" Krohn tells the reporters: " Sane." Krohn
218